🔗 The world is something that we make | Terminal:

A number of people have fairly gleefully (?) told me that not shopping at Amazon doesn’t change anything because AWS powers 35% of the Internet, like I don’t already fucking know what a dismal situation that is. A few have told me things like “they’re all doing bad stuff”, and the worst of all of this shit is “there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism”. Like, so what? Even if that is true, so what? You get to write yourself permission to default to the lowest common denominator shit possible and that that’s not behaviour that shapes collective incentive? It’s the same school of thought of ‘well, if I don’t do Bad Thing X, someone else just will anyway’. The correct response to that is ’let it be them’. It’s a manoeuvre and it’s a transparent line of shit and even I knew that for all the years I was ignoring it myself.

I can’t fucking stand the the snide know-it-alls who take pride in lecturing people doing their best to make a difference in whatever small way that they are able that they’re doing it wrong.

Nothing is ever good enough for these people.

We are all individuals trying to make the right decision and ourselves and the people around us based on what we know now. Not every one of those decisions is going to be perfect or the best. Some of what we know now will turn out to have been wrong. That’s okay.

EVs aren’t a solution to the climate crisis, but they’re probably better than burning gasoline. Going to a protest march isn’t going to end government oppression, but it’s better than sitting at home. Looking at Facebook less isn’t going to put Meta out of business, but it’s a start, and it will probably make you feel better.

Do what you can. Every little bit counts, and none of us has to answer to the very online try-hards.

Originally published at https://petebrown.gibber.blog/do-what-you-feel-like-you-are-able-to-do.